he is at the clemente center at the florida college of technology. you can watch the speech, streaming now on foxnews.com. >> jamie: have a great day, everybody. take care. >> reporter: president obama is opening up a new line of attack against governor romney against medicare, as he swings through florida and a large population of retired americans. he is expected to have a new study that says that governor romney's plan would cost retirees thousands more out of pocket. i'm shannon bream. we go to ed henry, traveling with the president in melbourn, florida. >> reporter: good to see you. the president started off with a joke saying, the most important thing i am going on say -- football starts today. they are here in florida. they have been watching college football yesterday and pro football kicks off today and high gear of a final day of this

campaign with the general election. we are under two months. the president wants to talk about medicare, shift the focus from jobs, after the weak jobs report on friday. let's take a listen. >> because i saw too many jobs disappearing overseas, too many families struggling with the costs that keep on going up, even though paychecks are not going up. too many people racking up more and more debt, just to make the mortgage or pay po tuition or put gas in the car or food on the table. and when this house of cards collapsed in this great recession, we saw millions of innocent americans lose their job, lose their homes, lose their savings. we are still trying to recover from that tragedy. now, our friends at the republican convention, they were more than happy to talk about everything that they think is wrong with america. but they didn't have much to say about how it make it right.

[cheers from crowd]. >> they want your vote, but they don't have a plan. or at least, they don't want to actual their plan. that's because they have the same plan they have had for 30 years. tax cuts, tax cuts, gut a few regulations and then give some more tax cuts. tax cuts when times are good. tax cuts when times are bad. tax cuts to help you lose a few extra pounds. tax cutses to improve your love life. i -- i said that -- i said that -- >> hitting the romney campaign really hard. they say they don't have a plan. what's interesting on the medicare issue, which he is expected to get to in just a moment. you mentioned the study that it will cost retirees an extra $125,000 in medicare if the

romney/ryan budget is implemented. republicans are noting this is a harvard study by an economist who is liberal and who has work ed for democratic officials. the white house is dismissing all of that and saying it is about the faces in the ryan/romney budget and they say that the ticket does not want to talk about the ryan budget because it is not popular in places like here in florida. now, the bottom line is that 29 electoral votes here, medicare is a big issue. and the broad-brushed response from the mitt romney team is that medicare is going broke. they believe the president can knock the plan all day, but they don't believe he has a plan to make it solvent. >> shannon: ed, the president appears to be getting a bounce from the dnc, but a lot of people think the president by former president bill clinton was one of the best. do they have plans to get

together on the campaign trail? >> reporter: they are not going to get together. but they are using bill clinton more. on tuesday, he will be in miami, wednesday, he will be in orlando, making the case on behalf of the president. i would suspect as we get closer to november, they will be on the campaign trail together. for now, bill clinton going out. the president made a joke about he got a tweet from someone saying that bill clinton should be made secretary of explaining stuff. he makes the case so well. there are some people who think that hurts the president because bill clinton may be making a better case than the president himself. and the president said, look, the word was not stuff, it was another word, but he wanted to clean tup for a family audience. >> shannon: always a good idea, especially when the fcc is involved. >> reporter: well, yeah. >> shannon: ed henry, traveling with the president, thank you. we will keep an eye on the speech. how will the romney/ryan team answer the medicare attacks? utah congressman and romney

supporter, congressman jason chafits. let's talk about the medicare. the obama administration is going to go at that hard. how will they best respond to that? >> president obama's finally playing defense on medicare. the nation's coming awake to the fact that the president obama plan literally took more than $700 billion out of medicare, took it as a piggy bank to pay for obamacare. what governor romney and paul ryan have said being we have to make sure that we get rid of obamacare and on day 1, offer a waiver to get away from that. the reality is, it's only president obam -- who has taken $700 billion out of medicare and i think the president's trying to scare seniors because they don't have an answer on how to save medicare. and romney/ryan have a plan to save medicare.

that's the difference. >> shannon: what do you make of the white house releasing the new study showing that according to their numbers that somebody would retire in 2030 would expect to pay an additional $125,000 in costs over their lifetime, under a romney/ryan plan, things that would have to come out of pocket? according to the new study? >> anybody who is 55 years or older will have no adjustments to their plan moving forward. what republicans are trying to do is make medicare affordable and make sure it's there for future generations. so this study has a lot of holes in it, given the person who conducted the person and their ties to the democratic party. the white house is will have to get use to the fact, they took $700 billion out of medicare to pay for obamacare. that will affect seniors immediately. and that will be a -- believe me , over the next 59 days of the election, that will be a major discussion point.

but they have to live up to the fact that they took $700 billion out of medicare. >> shannon: are you encourage that the topic is getting so much attention? most politicians department want to get near this. i would expect this will get fully hashed out in the debates in october, as well in. >> it's so fun tow me because i heard the president's comments as you played them from the clip we werean. the president's plan articulated in a budget was defeated in the senate 99-0, defeated in the house, 414-0. he had zero support for his plan. not a single democrat. how bad is your budget if nancy pelosi won't vote for it? so the president is on very shallow ground here. the reality is that mitt romney and paul ryan have issued a 59-point plan with great detame, approving the keystone pipeline

to put thousands of people to work, building and expanning that, repealing kircare, engaging in tax reform. these are things that are pro-growth. >> shannon: you have been involved in another topic from the beginning. the investigation into fast & furious, the gun-walking operation that went wrong and led to the death of one border patrol agent on the u.s. side. we believe many others on the other side of the bordener mexico, as well. good news with the arrest of one of the suspects in agent terry's death. but the inspector general within the d.o.j. was expected to have a report on fast & furious roll out of the there is a hearing on the hill. we understand that may not be ready in time for him to testify. what do you make of that? >> we are supposed to have a hearing on tuesday, with the anticipation of having the do you means to go over that. the obama administration has been woefully inadequate in prosecuting this case. the obama administration released nearly 2,000 weapons to the drug cartels, mostly

ak-47s. we have a dead border patrol agent and hundreds of dead people in mexico and nobody, not a single person at the senior level at the department of justice, held responsible. they said they would be the most open and transparent administration in history, but they won't hand over the 140,000 do you means that they have. we expect the inspector general to look through the 140,000 documents and then provide us some information to congress because we are not only the oversight committee, but we are supposed to be the government reform. we are trying to make sure to make sure that the administration's held accountable and we make the reforms necessary so this never, ever happens again. >> shannon: do you expect that you will get new information from the inspector general or that it will be fair? and you will get detail that you have not been able to get your hands on so far from this administration? >> we hope so. there are 140,000 documents and despite the subpoena, we have been given less than 8,000 of

the documents. the inspector general was supposed to be able to see all 140,000. we will question them and make sure they can see the documents and then the question is, what do they do about it? we know there are troubles in the phoenix office and atf. but we know that there is real trouble at the senior level of the department of justice. thus far, the administration has not been held accountable and has not followed through on president obama's promise. this is such a scanned wala dead border patrol agent -- think about it! 2,000 ak-47s were given to the drug cartels and it doesn't make the cover of time magazine? or newsweek? it's a crying shame thereto -- that the national media has not been covering this more. >> shannon: with president obama and governor romney in a dead heat, the depay thees are shaping up to be must-see tv.

the first isauk 3 in denver. we wanted to know, will you watch the presidential debates in and how much will they impack your decision? tweet us your answers. we will read your responses throughout the day. >> 47 million people on food stamps, when the president took office, there were 32 million on food stamps. now 47 milliop. that is not justice for all. >> shannon: are you better off than you were four years ago isn't ailing economy was the topic on the sunday shows. with romney supporters focusing onions and the number of people who are giving up on trying to find one. peter doocy has more. >> reporter: the unemployment rate dropped down to 8.1%, 0.2 lower than in july, largely because 368,000 people stopped looking for work. and that caused the labor force participation rate to shrink to

63 1/2%, the lowest level since 1981. still, though, president obama supporters were saying that the august jobs report was an outlier. >> you never want to take one month's report. if you look over the last year, the unemployment rate is down a full percentage point and most of that is from people getting new jobs, not from a reduction in the labor force. >> reporter: and he said, part of the reason the labor force shrunk is because more people chose to go to school in the fall. but this weekend in florida, president obama has tried to shift the focus away from unemployment, not mentioning the word once yesterday. telling supporters if they re-elect him, he will create jobs, create more home-grown energy, hire more teacherrers, send more people to college and send more troops home. but the romney campaign is not so sure the ideas will grow the economy. >> more than a million more people are unemployed than the

day the president took office. there is some structural headwinds, but largely, this is a story of growth. we have very anemic growth. we could do better. >> reporter: the republican vice-presidential nominee, paul ryan, said on abc this morning, for every person who got a job last month, nearly 4 stopped looking for work. he said, that is not a good direction. >> shannon: plenty of room for improvement. new yorkers are cleaning up from a mess that tor2 tornadoes left when they hit the big apple yesterday. it was part of a storm that hit the east coast with blinding rains and heavy winds. our chief meteorologist is in the fox weather center to tell us more. >> reporter: yeah, take a look at the line of storms, all across the eastern seaboard yesterday. but queens and brooklyn, each getting a tornado, small tornadoes, didn't cause

extensive damage. but i tell you, a lot of wind damage with people without power. the good thing is behind it is a much, much nicer air mass. we are talking about very, very comfortable temperatures and not only more comfortable temperatures but much dryer conditions. temps will be in toward the 70s for a couple of days for pretty much everybody. and we are going to be watching dry conditions. there is a little bit of rain from the same frontal system, across florida. but it is nothing to worry about. and then across the four corners, we will see more shower activity. and seattle, it is hard to imagine this, but seattle has not had any rain in 49 days, shannon. they had almost broken the treach for dry conditions, but they will be getting 65 degrees today, 20 degrees cooler than yesterday. >> shannon: thanks for keeping us updated. at least 39 people are dead in baghdad after a string of

attacks in 10 cities. the most severe was near an army outpost. 10 were killed and 8 were wyn wounded. later on, several police recruits were targeted when they were standing in line in kirkuk. the u.s. spends more on health care than any other in the world. coming up a look at how much we are wasting as a reason that experts say the costs won't go down any time soon. he spent 3 years in an iranian prison, refusing to denounce his christian faith. now, he is a free man. we will talk to the man who was key in helping to get him released. [ mother ] you can't leave the table till you finish your vegetables. [ clock ticking ] [ male announcer ] there's a better way... v8 v-fusion. vegetable nutrition they need, fruit taste they love. could've had a v8...

>> shannon: an iranian pastor who spent 3 years locked in prison because of his faith is finally a free man. youcef nadarkhani was reunited with his family yesterday. he converted from islam to christianity when he was a teenager. he was sentenced to death for refusing to renounce his christian faith. from the beginning, the american center for law and justice led the fight to get the pastor freed. others around the world as well. jay, it was great news and

congratulations to you and the other who is fought for the pastor's release. how did this finally happen? >> shannon, it was a global effort. i have to say thank you to some of the folks on our staff, my son has been on with you, many times, tiffany barons, a legal director and matt clark, here in our offices. they did a great job. they mobilized people around the world. and that includes governments like brazil, youcef nadarkhani was mentioned on the floor of the united nations. the brazilian government got heavily involved and secretary of state clinton got heavily involved. other orgs were bringing attention to t. twerp tweeting 3 million people a day. what happened in iran, i think it is significant for others that are in the same plight, that is christians that are in jail, imprisoned because of their faith, when you bring global attention to these situations, you can get results. the end result was a six-hour

trial, the day before yesterday and at the conclusion of the trial, he was then released. they dropped the charges or found him not guilty of blasphemy and said he was guilty of evangelizing muslims and charged him with time served and he was released. it's a tremendous outcome. but it was a global effort and a lot of thank yous, including foc news for covering this. >> shannon: our viewers are hungry for more information. we are so glad to bring them good news. they have been very phageful. but the pastor has made clear, he has no intention of renouncing his christian faith. is he safe in irab? and other who is say publicly, they are not going to turn back? >> this is a man who was offered to be released from jail, multiple times and they asked him to recant his faith and he said, i cannot. as far as safety, the global attention helps the safety of him and others, and there are

others who are still in prison -- look, this came from the ayatollah. this isn't western judicial system. this came from the ayatollah. and the ayatollah made a decision -- and i am sure aupolitical one -- that this man would be released. i have no doubt he will continue his ministry. that's between him and his congregation and the lord. that's going to be the end result here. what happens in the future, time will tell. what we'll hope and what we will continue to do is to monitor the situation, continue to update individuals that are concerned about this. there are millions concerned about this and keep the plight on other prisoners, want just in iran, but in other muslim countries that are facing tremendous persecution. >> reporter: >> shannon: i want to ask about egypt. that's a hot spot with a lot of very disturbing information as they undergo a huge transition there in their governmental central america and military as well. what's the latest from egypt? >> not good for christians.

the church has suffered under the muslim brotherhood-led egypt. and the arab spring has turn bod a nightmare for christians. being a christian in egypt is not good and that's true in the gaza and the west bank. the christian community, especially with heavy muslim brotherhood leadership, it's death for people. churches are being bushed and destroyed. people are being killed. this is a very serious situation. we keep a very close eye on the situation in egypt. i have a lot of friends that are driftian who is keep me posted on what is going on inside egypt. it is very, very serious. and religious persecution is incredible and yet, our government's giving billions to an islamic regime that is running egypt. the danger is incredible for those who don't share that

islamic extremism. that's the danger here. >> shannon: we will watch that closely. and thanks to your work on the youcef nadarkhani case. we are happy to have positive news. >> we are thrilled with the outcome. >> shannon: as many americans head to church this morning, the intersection of god and politics is on many minds after the dustup on the democratic national convention. in a scripted show of unity, the democrats have to restore a reference to god. that got us thinking, given the constitutional separation of church and state, some would argue, it is not in the constitution, what role should god and religion play in polling its? in the next hour, we will be talking to family research counsel, tony perkins and we'll talk about separation of church and state and what it means in

2012. word comes that we are wasting enough monohealth care to offset the costs we need to keep our military funded. we will tell you how much is being wasted and why. and what if your boss tide your job security to how you vote in november. that's what a government watchdog group said happened to a group of federal aviation employees in seattle. we'll talk about that allegation, coming up next. ♪ [ man ] excuse me miss. [ gasps ] this fiber one 90 calorie brownie has all the deliciousness you desire.

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>> the health care law is a hot topic today. >> shannon, governor romney says there are parts of the president's health care law he would keep if elected president. he told me that he would make sure those with pre-existing

conditions could still get coverageomp day 2 of his florida campaign swing, president obama is criticizing romney's medicare plan and how much he says tell cost retirees. the doctor for tulane's football team says that safety devon walker has fractured has his spine. he was injured in a head-to-head collision with a teammate in tulsa, oklahoma. he is in stable condition, but he will need spinal surgery. chicago public school teachers are threatening to strike tomorrow for the first time in 25 years. negotiators for the teachers union and the school board are headed back to the bargaining table today. pay raises and job security are top concerns itch the nation's having the worst west nile virus season in decades, killing 36 birds. rez deps are asked to take down bird feeders and birth baths so the birds won't be lured to the

area. those are the top stories right now. >> shannon: thank you very much. >> controversy swirling around the faa, some saying that employees were pressured to vote for democrats in november to prec their job security. the nonpart son group, cause of action, is calling for an afnltionz we have the director here to join us live. dan, thanks for coming in. what kind of comments are we talking about here? >> what we know is that senior officials at the federal aviation administration went to a seattle regional office during may 23, 2012 and told employees there that if they wanted to keep their jobs and keep the budget flat, they had to vote for democrats, come november. >> shannon: you had a

whistleblower who initially alerted you to this. you gotture hand on emails from employees. what was the reaction? >> the workers were concerned that number 1, this looks like a potential hatch act violation. that's a law that was passed specifically to keep a distinction between politics and policies. you wanted federal agencies focused on policies, you don't want officials going to federal buildings and building meetings and saying things that look like campaign activity. that's what we saw here. and the emails indicated that a number of faa employees felt threatened that if they didn't vote a certain way in november that they might lose their jobs. >> shannon: the faa says it takes hatch act violations very seriously and will cooperate fully with any review of the alleges. i understand their office has gotten involved and there is an investigation. but you are pressing for

something more. what you are looking for? >> we are looking want just for the office of special counsel to get involved. that's a specific agency to investigate hatch act violations to make is that your federal emmeees are not engaging in political activities and they investigate threats of retaliation against employees. the reason cause of action, which is a group dedicated to accountability and fighting corruption has asked the inspector general to look at this, is number 1, the inspector general is required to let congress know whenever there is a major investigation. the office of the special counsel doesn't have that requirement. and the office of special counsel is reportable to the president. the inspector general, however, has some independence in which the osc does not. so our hope that is that calvin scobicle figure out, number 1, whether any potential political activity occurred or any retailiation occurred and did this happen at other federal

agent agencies? in other regional offices? did anyone in the executive office of the president tell them to do had? >> shannon: i want to put up part of an email, talking about an employee, responding. he said, i would not be able to quote mr. hickey, but what i took was that if the conservative republicans gained control of congress, the faa could be looking alta 15% cut in budget and we may be looking at furloughs, if the liberal democrats remain, we will have a flat budget. in short, if the republicans win in office, our jobs would be affected and if the democrats win, we would not be affected. is possible that they were laying out facts, if this party's in control, you are in trouble. and if this party's in control, you are fine. >> that's possible. but you don't have to mention

politics. you can say, we may suffer budget cuts. and they're officials with aviation safety. no part of their meeting should have anything to do with politics or budget. their focus is what will make america safe. and clearly, that is not what they were talking about. i think it's important to note that not only this is a potential hatch act violation, but if employees thought their jobs may be at risk because of the way they vote, there are election crimes issues dealing with voter intimidation, voter coercion and the fact that john hickey is a federal official and was saying this and people may have fet threatened is a reason that we think that this should go straight to the justice department and why we wrote to attorney general holder to investigate as well. >> shannon: we hope you will keep us updated. as you get a response to your request in as you of action. thank you so much. >> thank you with all the

squabbling over the health care law, there is one fact in which all sides seem to agree. the u.s. spends more on health care than any other country. and experts do not see costs dropping dramatically. liz mcdonnell breaks down the numbers. >> reporter: that's right. with the conventions over and the campaign beginning the final stretch, health care is about to take center stage. this will be at this time sizable cause of the health care law, the taxes needed to pay for the reform and the $716 billion in cuts in medicare now on the table over 10 years. but is this throwing good money after bad? a stunning new report says that the u.s. healthcare system wastes $750 billion a year, according to the institute of medicine. it's a nonpartisan group affiliated with the national academy of sciences.

that waste amounts to a big 30% of the cost of the entire u.s. health care system. the $750 billion easily surpasses the pentagon's annual budget and stopping this waste first would easily cover the $716 billion in medicare cuts that are on the table. it's more than enough to care for the uninsured. the scale of waste is surprising. the report identified six major areas of waste. but the worst are unnecessary service, $210 billion annually. inefficient delivery of care, $130 billion. and excessive administrative costs of $190 billion. getting better controls is one of the keys to reducing the deficit. that's one of the biggest domestic challenges. a canadian woman said she would

not be alive without medical treatment sthree got across the border -- here in the u.s. why she left canada and what makes her fearful about the future of america. new bayer migraine formula.

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call or go online today. after all, when you're going the distance, it's nice to have the experience and commitment to go along with you. keep dreaming. keep doing. go long. >> shannon: a showdown is brewing between iran and israel lady of the general assembly meg in new york. when the meeting begins in 2 week, ahmadinejad will be there, as will israeli prime minister netanyahu. diplomats hope that new life can be breathed into fail talked at the u.n. meeting and that israel can be persuaded to keep all options on the table, regarding iran. >> my husband spoke up and said he have an appointment in september and the doctor said, your wife will be deads by september. >> shannon: a new americans for prosperity ad tells the story of

a woman who said the canadian national health care could have left her dead. she believes that the u.s. is on track to be more like canada and that could be very dangerous for patients. thanks for coming in today. >> thanks for having me. >> reporter: >> shannon: you're a canadian citizen because of a wait time for a treatment for a condition that you have, you elected to come here to the u.s. tell us about the decision. >> what happened, i was really facing a long wait time. i just couldn't get in to see doctors. i thought it was just a fluke that this happened to me. so i came to the u.s. and got diagnosed and went back with a full diagnosis. that's when i realized how bad it was because i couldn't get a surgeon to operate on me. i had been raised with all of these nightmare stories about the american health care system and how bad it was. but when i needed it, it was there for me and i was able to get treatment. so i started to get involved in the dialogue, in order to open communication between two

countries and talk about health care and the changes that we need. >> shannon: during the commercial break, we talked about the fact that we both experienced canadian medical care. the doctors are top notch. it is not that there isn't theital not or the skill. your main concern is the wait time. >> it's the wait time. and they are really controlled by the government. and that's where my big fear is for where my dear friends in the united states are heading is that if you are walking into that sort of situation, then all of a sudden, the government can control who you can see, when you can see them. and that's devastating for the patient. the government coming between the doctor and the patient is awful. >> reporter: you have testified on capital hill and imrb who puts their neck and their story out there, there have been critics who said that your story is not accurate. your life wasn't in danger. i want to give you a chance to respond to that. >> it's absolutely awful. to respond to all of that has been exhausting because it tabes

you off message. typical, go after the messenger, rather than listen to the message. that's what is frightening. the story is there, the records are there. the people who are speaking out against me are the people who aren't there to help me. >> shannon: your ad will be shown all over the country. as we were talking about, prior to your arrival, the issue of health care is debate audio the campaign trail with the two sides talking about what they are going to do. mitt romney says he will preserve some parts of the law that he thinks are positive. both parties agree there needs to be reform here in the united states. what positive steps do you think can be taken? is it going to help or hurt more people who repeal what the president passed? >> i think it's wonderful to hear that he is opening the discussion. i am hoping that it is making people more comfortable that the talks are about health care reform. everybody needs health care

reform. the problem is that both in canada and the united states, health care costs are expensive. we are to focus on the costs. we can't focus on being damaging to patients and that's where the dialogue is going off track. so i think it's great that that has been opened. >> the conversation will continue. thank you for sharing your story with us. >> thank you for having me >> shannon: up next, they economy is the key issue, chris wallace interviews both top economic advisers and their plan to get america back on track. this happy couple used capital one venture miles

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>> shannon: god takes center stage in the presidential election. what role will religion play in in election? i'll ask the head of the family research counsel, tony perkins. >> if you work hard and play by the rules, have you earned your pension. >> i would have president obama why i have no rights and he has all the rights to take my pension away. >> shannon: and the auto workers, president obama picks winners and losers. the non-union workers are demanding they get their

pensions back. we will talk it a group trying to get the president's pension. did managers at a government agency break the law and warn workers to vote democrat? one watchdog group wants to get to the bottom of it. now looking at the top headlines, health care is the topic of the day on the campaign trail. governor mitt romney telling abc news, he plans to keep parts of obamacare, and the president saying he would never turn medicare interest a voucher system. many of us looking at the long, holiday shopping list, might be thinking about getting started. hey, listen, the decorations are already in the stores. if you would like to start early, k-mart is dropping the leiaway fee, starting november 17. and nearly 12,000 people went to a race of 11 miles and 26 obstacles with benefits helping the wounded warrior project.

>> you can use the money for things that are important, like cutting taxes for businesses that hire people, rather than cutting taxes on the estates of billionaires, or cutting taxes for mitt romney's horse. each year, the administration has forecast that faster growth is around a two-year corner and it hasn't happened. and it won't until we change course. >> shannon: advisers to both presidential campaign, making appearances on fox news sunday to take a closer look at the differences between the two candidates and their economic plans. i sat down with chris wallace for a look inside this week's show. chris, as the presidential race remains incrediblely tight. you had two top economic advisers. let's talk about taxes. >> very interesting. we had -- on the republican side, glen hubbard, now a top

economic adviser for mitt romney. his basic argument was the last dhoing when you have a recovery this week, as we saw with thions report friday, the recovery is very weak, four times as many people left the workforce as entered it. he said, you don't raise taxes. you don't raise taxes on anybody. i think this is something that the romney camp is going to have to find a better way of explaining, it is not a tax cut on the wealthy. they lowered tax rates. part of the problem, they won't say what deductions they will take away, so people don't have a sense that -- that the pain is going to be shared. as far as the democrats are concerned, they're say, this is just bush part 2, this is just a sequel to the bush administration, the tax cuts there, that helped explode the deficit and that's one of the reasons we are in the economic mess. if you liked where you were in 2008, romney will cake you back there. two very different arguments. >> reporter: you have austin

golesbee on for that. >> seems to me, both sides are not credible. the president talks about trillions of doctor dollars in spending cuts, but he takes $848 billion from the wars that we weren't going to fight and it was borrowed, so it is not like a sum of money that we are able to keep. he also counts the trillion dollars this they made in the debt agreement in august as part of raising the debt ceiling, that's part of the budget cuts. and romney talks about very big cuts, $500 billion by twrent 16, balancing the budget by 2020, but he's very vague about the details. so i think both of them to the degree that people want to see something more concrete, both of them have some work to do. >> shannon: a new face on the republican scene getting a lot of attention. mia love. if you didn't watch the convention and i think a lot of people saw clips, a black mormon

woman, mayor of a small town in utah, who is running for congress... very interesting figure. had a star turn at the convention. you will meet her. and i think she is an impressive -- she's in a tough race. but if she comes to washington, i think she will be a star. >> shannon: a great show and a wonderful panel. >> good to be home. >> shannon: good to have you back. you can catch the interview right here on fox newschannel. right after our show at 2:00 and 6:00 eastern. keep it here. a little bit later on, we will talk to tony perkings at the -- tony perkins at the family research counsel about why the democrats might have chosen to take god out of original platform. deform

>> shannon: with less than two months to go before election day the race for the white house is heating up with both candidates looking for an edge. front and center today on the campaign trail, healthcare. on his swing through the all important state of florida, president obama opens up a new lien of attack against h his republican rival on the issue of millwood did medicare. governor mitt romney says he will keep some parts of obama care if elected. i'm shannon bream. hour number two of america's

news headquarters live from the nation's capital starts right now. right now, president obama is h on his way to west balm beach. in a campaign event, mr. obama rolled out a fresh attack on the romney ryan plans to alter medicare. steve centanni live with details. hi, steve. >> reporter: president obama today hammering away at gop ideas for reforming medicare. appearing in melbourne, florida, the president referenced a new study showing future retirees would have to pay nearly $60,000 more out of pocket to get medicare. >> our opponent's plan would mean as much as 16 to $26 billion in new profits for insurance companies. so basically your costs would rise by the thousands so that their profits could rise by the billions. >> reporter: the study he is

talking about is measuring retirees' costs and was conducted by david cutler a harvard professor who serve a is candidate obama's top healthcare advisor during the last campaign. mitt romney at home in boston attending church and preparing for the october debate talked about healthcare as well in about a pretaped interview that appeared on nbc. he said even though he vowed to help repealle obama care there are parts of the plan he would keep. >> i'm not getting rid of all of healthcare reform, of course. there are number of things that i like that he will put in place. one is to make sure that those with preexisting conditions can get coverage and two is to assure that the marketplace' lous for individuals to have policies that cover their family up to whatever age they might like. >> romney has said he has promised to replace obama care and that he would replace it with a plan similar to his own plan in massachusetts when was governor when it comes to preexisting conditions and coverage for young people.

shannon? >> shannon: steve centanni, thank you so much. >> you bet. >> shannon: members of our military could have less of an impact at the ballot box this year. the military voter protection project suggests military this november will be "bleak." it expects turnout the to be down by as much as a third. and fox news senior correspondent eric shawn tells us that could have enormous impact in key states. >> reporter: they fight for our freedom on the frontlines but fewer members of the military will be voting. the number of absentee ballots requested by eligible military voters is dramatically down according to the military voter protection project. >> we can see an election where turnout is down 25%, 0%. >> they say in the crucial swing state of ohio only 3.3% of eligible military voters have requested ballots as of a week and a half ago. in north carolina, just 1.7%.

virginia, 1.4%. and florida is at 15.7%. while members of the military register to vote from their home states in 2009 congress passed the military and overseas voter empowerment act which is meant to help smooth the voting process. >> with the low numbers it raised serious questions for us not only about whether the service members will have their voices heard on election day but more importantly whether that important federal law was actually implemented. >> reporter: but the head of the pentagon voting program says military voting assistance has never been better. creteing the pentagon about about's voter assistance offices and use of social media. >> we are committed to evaluating all of the tools in our arsenal and we will work with the congress and with all affected stake holders including the services to continue to take a look at that and refine the way in which we conduct outreach to absentee voters. >> reporter: the pentagon says military voter registration is running about the same as in 2004.

the last time an incumbent president was on the ballot. in new york i'm eric shawn, fox news. >> shannon: to talk about jerusalem again the way the kind of ping-pong back and forth i think was irresponsible and wrong and we should have stuck to the original language. >> shannon: that was michigan state representative clay, one of the lawmakers upset about the decession to reinstate language recognizing jerusalem as the capital of israel back into the democratic party platform at the dnc. after a public backlash over that and taken out the phrase referencing american's god given potential president obama intervened to have the platform changed. what will religious issues play this year? tony perkins joins us to discuss the issue. tony, thank you for your time today. >> good afternoon, shannon. >> there are several steps here. first of all, the original platform taking out the reference to god given potential and the language about jerusalem is the capital of israel. what is your reaction?

do you think democrats misunderestimated to use a george w. bush word, the impact that it would have to make the decisions to take language out of what was in the 2008 platform? >> well, first, i think it is the ideology that is driving the party. it is hard to have a -- make reference to god when you have an oversized view of government. a big god and a big government are two income patible concepts. i think you saw that play out this week in charlotte with the platform. but, what has happened here is the president and the key party leaders are taking the party in a very, very leftward direction and the rank and file members across the country who vote to typically vote democratic have not left the core principles of america when you consider that our rights come from god. and they prefer to have a reference made to god in their party's platform and i think that is why you saw you them at least amend it with this

oblique reference to god. not a direct reference as you said, god given potential. not a recognition that our rights come from god which the republican party platform does state. >> shannon: what do you make of what did happen when they did decide to amend the platform and there was a voice vote with -- it seemed some conflict about whether or not the two thirds voice vote in favor of taking on the amendment happened. it was taken three time. what is your reaction to that? >> to the untrained ear you could tell they did not have two thirds present in support of amending the platform document. they knew they had to drive this through. this is a big issue, shannon. i think it will play out throughout the next two months as we come up to election day. what we saw back in the 1980s, the mass exodus from a voting perspective of democrats to vote for ronald reagan. they became known as regan

democrats not over economic policy but you over social policy. there was a poll released this last week the single issue that -- the one issue that the most likely voters agreed with was on the issue of marriage. a social issue. over 51% said marriage is the union of a man and a woman and it is a corner stone of society. nothing else came close to that. i think when you see that, the social positions that this president has taken now with this offending of those who see israel as our key ally and jerusalem being their capital as well as taking god out of the pledge, i think they are in serious trouble with those socially conservative or moderately social moderates within the democratic party. >> shannon: i get the e-mails and tweets and i'm quite sure you get many more of them than i do. but talking about the separation of church and state and the fact that god shouldn't be involved in politics and party leaders on both sides who say god is not a democrat and

not a republican and really shouldn't be used as a political football. how do you respond? >> he shouldn't be. i agree with that. he shouldn't be. abraham lincoln said it is not a matter of god being on our side it is us being on god's side. this is really the end result of those who are carrying around this message of the is separation of church and state. really what it behind it, it is a desire to separate god from government. to refuse to acknowledge that our rights come from god and that as human beings we are accountable to god and that includes our politicians. you can tell by the surveys around polls the majority of americans want a government that does have some level of accountability to a higher being, to a supreme being to the almighty and that is reflected in what the democrats had to do and go back in amending the platform at least to make a veiled reference to god. >> shannon: tony perkins thanks

for your time today. >> good to be with you. have a great day. >> shannon: an iranian pastor who spent three years in prison has been reunited with his family. the freedom comes after years of appeals and a death sentence from iran. lauren green with details on the new development. hello, lauren. >> reporter: for three years the pastor sat in an iranian prison facing possible death and then just yesterday he was released. he gained wordwide grass roots attention, millions of prayers and tweets and then involvement from the governments of brazil, the u.s. plus the u.n. his legal team saying the decision to release him came down from the country's highest authority, the ayatollah. >> i think the release of youcef points to two things. the iranian government knows that the world is looking at what they are doing on religious persecution and number two, international

pressure. when youster governments like brazil and our own state department and the u.n. speaking out on this makes a big difference. >> the release came after nearly a 6 hour hearing where the charge of converting from islam was reduced to evangelizing and the sentence lowered to time served. he was is born must lam but said he never embraced the faith and as a teenager became a christian. iranian authorities promised to free him if he renounced christianity but he refused. a big decision is whether to stay in iran and continue to pastor his congregation for flee for the safety of his family. >> we have a very delicate period of time here. you have to be careful after the release of these cases. it was about five years ago that a similar case an individual pastor was released and later killed a few days later. happens. here you have to watch it. this this has been a high profile case. i'm optimistic this could represent a change of tone if we can continue.

>> now, advocacy groups say there are still a number of christians and religious minorities in iranian prisons but the release is a good seen that their tactics work. shannon? >> shannon: thank you very much for the update. well, groups like the aclj are hoping that the pastor's release will lead to the release of others jailed for religious reasons all over the world. people like mentally challenged crestian teenager in pakistan arrested for blasphemy and has now been granted bail. the 14-year-old was taken into custody after a mob gathered outside her house accusing her of burning pages of the koran. she spent three weeks in jail. well, terrified, her family and other christian families have fled the country. defacing the koran carries the death penalty. as the school year begins in chicago the teachers there may be going on strike. talks have been held throughout the weekend but union leaders call the school district latest

offer disappointing. teachers are asking for higher pay and more job security. angry parents argue that an agreement should have been reached over the summer. the deadline ends tomorrow. the obama campaign pats itself on the back for "saving america's auto industry." but did they or did they just save their friend industry? a watch dog group says the administration did pick winners and losers in the auto baleout. >> because of all of the actions he took, because of the calls he made, because of the determination of american workers and the unparalleled bravery of our special forces we can now proudly say what you have heard me say the last six months. osama bin laden is dead and general motors is alive! [ male announcer ] in blind taste tests, even ragu users chose prego.

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>> shannon: general election season is now underway and a new book is portraying the president as overconfident, underprepared and unwilling to nurture relationships with congressional leaders from either party. a look at the price the politics by bob woodward. >> two weeks before inauguration, president-elect joe biden and president obama went to capitol hill to tell

leaders he wanted a stimulus package of $800 billion to $100 trillion. both parties said the atmosphere for bipartisan cooperation was sincere on all sides but then the president went his own way. as the book puts it president obama and his advisors quote believed that government spending to create jobs and crow the economy and republicans believed that helping small business would create more jobs. just after taking office the new you president invited congressional leaders to the white house. eric cantor arrived with a list of proposals including immediate reduction in the two lowest individual income tax rates, a tax reduction of 20% on small businesses, and making unemployment benefits tax free among other things. in spite of pledges to cooperate the president rejected cantor's ideas and according to the book rubbed it in saying "elections have consequences and eric i won." but the president was having

trouble with conservative democrats as well. nancy pelosi and senator harry reid were working on changes aimed at winning their support. president obama called and was put on speaker phone and was told the efforts would save the economy. they thanked him. according to a book pelosi hit the mute button and democrats went back to their work leaving the president speaking no the ozone which the president denies. >> i don't have any idea of where they could have gotten the thought. usually i don't have anybody in the room. >> rahm emanuel and budget director peter orzog, one of whom eventually talked. the stimulus passed without a single republican vote. eric cantor says he was really surprised at "how badly the white house played what should have been a winning hand." though obama won the vote cantor thought he had unified and energized the losers. >> he pushed them away,

republicans grumbled. a squandered tonight to work across the aisle. shannon? >> i have met workers in detroit and toledo who feared they would never build another american car. and today they can't build them fast enough because we reinvented a dying auto industry that is back on the top of the world. >> shannon: president obama and democrats touting the auto bailout as a success story. one group say there's is another side to the store arery. alex cortez a member of the group let freedom ring which just released a new ad about this topic. thanks for coming in. >> good to be with you, shannon. >> shannon: i understand that the issue has to deal with a specific group of employee, delphi who were not unionized and they say because of that they were the loser in the winners and losers picked by the administration. >> you heard them talk about the auto bailout and how great it was 115 times but not once did they mention the losers of the auto bailout.

obama hand picked the losers, the nonunion workers at delphi and completely terminated their pensions and pension losses of up to 70%. at the seam time he used taxpayer dollars to bail out the union pensions at the very same company, picking winners and losers clearly. ha happened to the supreme concern for fairness. >> shannon: the administration has said that they didn't pick winners and losers it was the pension benefit guarantee corporation that made the decisions. and they say that the bankruptcy was handled like 34 other corporate bankruptcies that same year and testified under oath that there was no pick abouting of winners and losers based on union status. >> one of the members of obama's auto task force in his sworn dep position he admits it the treasury department position to terminate the pensions of the nonunion workers and bail out the pensions of the union workers. the daily collar reported the obama administration excluded

from meetings about the pensions which is probably illegal. and here is another fact to consider. the nonunion pensions were 86% funded. higher than the average of the top 100 corporations in it america and none of those pensions were terminated but the nonunion workers woke up one morning and lost everything. >> shannon: you talked to the folks that are now in the ads. wakened owhat what kind of impt had on them? for any of us a significant hit. >> over 20,000 salaried employees who lost up to 70% of their pensions. they planned for retirement carefully and they are counting on this source of income. they are already retired and out of the work force. this is obama about's direct harm on them and the american people need to know this before they vote. >> shannon: why do you you think we haven't known more about this? the house ways and means committee asked for documentation and answers. why do you think we haven't seen the headlines?

>> the democrats aren't going to talk about it,. >> the media is not going to talk about it. thank you guys for covering it. we need to let the auto workers speak on camera about how obama harmed them. we have an obligation to be a voice for them and how they have been harmed. >> shannon: what hope do you have that the house committee or other entities, i know there is lawsuits involved for the workers. >> the real hope for real action is we need to make it a political liability for obama. he is concerned about his election. if this becomes a liability he will want to settle it right away. the greatest time for helping the workers is now. you had democratic senator brown and democratic senator debbie stabenow tell obama fix this problem now. there is several plans to fix this without taxpayer dollars and he is not taking action. if he becomes enough of a political liability i hope he

will have restitution for the injustices. >> both my husband and i worked for delphi and we both lost well over 40% of our are retirement. it made life pretty rough. i mean i really struggle to pay for the basics. >> if you work hard and play by the rules then you have earned your pension. >> i would ask president obama why i have no rights. >> shannon: and alex, you actually interviewed some of these folks so you know the stories personally and checked them out? >> last month i was is with six of the workers who had their pensions taken away by president obama. i let them speak on how they have been harmed. very powerful stuff and we need to get it out there more. >> shannon: the administration says there was no picking of winners and losers. maybe there will be more of a talk of what happen. >> i hope so. we put $7 million behind this advertising. >> shannon: a government watch

dog group is accusing top officials of pressuring employees to vote for president obama and democrats across the board in order to protect their job security. reportedly happened in a meeting in seattle in november. i spoke with cause of action dan epistein and he says he is calling for a full fledged investigation. >> if employees at the f.a.a. thought their jobs may be at risk because of the way they vote there is election crimes issues dealing with voter intimidation, voter coercion and the fact that john hickey is a federal official and was saying this and people may have felt threatened by him is a reason why we think that ultimately this should go straight to the justice department. >> shannon: senior f.a.a. official john hickey allegedly told employees if republicans win the elections the agency would face budget cuts and this a could cost people jobs. the f.a.a. said the agency will cooperate with any investigation or review into the matter. both sides got a bump from

the conventions so where are do things stand now 58 days until the election? we will break down the latest numbers, next. at purina one,

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>> shannon: it is the bottom of the hour. time for top stories. president obama says that governor mitt romney and running mate paul ryan get a failing great for their explanation of how to pay for trillions of dollars in tax cuts. for his part, governor romney says he won't raise taxes on the middle class but will close unspecified loopholes enjoyed mostly by the wealthy to pay for lower tax rate ares for everyone. the chicago teachers' union on the verge of striking, demanding better job security and higher pay. negotiators headed back to the bargaining table today. the deadline ends tomorrow. england's is queen elizabeth it known for her love of dogs. her dog montae has passed away.

montae made a special cameo with the scene during the opening ceremony of the summer olympics in london. brand new polls show the president did get a bounce from the democratic national convention and governor mitt romney got a small one after his tampa convention. enough to make the race a dead heat. here to break things down, tom bevin, cofounder of real clear politics. let's start off h head to head. what do the latest numbers show you about the race, obama versus romney? >> well, obama is receiving a bump from his convention and it is not clear exactly how much of a bump that he will get. we have a couple of tracking polls tracking over the weekend. gallup showed obama moving out from a one-point lead to a five-point lead and the rasmussen tracking poll showed romney ahead last week and now obama ahead by four. up by a point and a half in the real clear politics average. we will see more polls coming out early this week which will give us a better indication of where the race stands. >> shannon: do you think we

have fluctuation as well in the job approval rating for the president. gallup poll has approve at 52% and disapprove at 42% which seems to be a shift when talking about economic issues the president it seems has not fared as well with the general public when asked about that. ross musen poll shows 49% approve and 50% disapprove. so flipping the numbers but still relatively close. the overall average at real clear politics is 48.5% approve and 47.7% disapprove. usual or customary to see numbers this tight? >> we have seen a bump in the job approval rating. the one thing that viewers should be aware of is that some of these numbers now aren't taking into effect -- they are taking into account the convention but not the news after the convention which is the bad jobs report on friday. we saw in gallup today the numbers just came out 20 minutes ago that the job approval rating bounced down

four points and approval rating went down two and disapproval went up two and that took into account the friday numbers. we have to wait and see both on-the-job approval front and on the polling the head-to-head numbers front not only the convention bounce but as that last jobs report gets sort of enguested by the public to see where this race really does stand as we are under the 60 day mark now. >> shannon: for candidates whether republicans or democrats, if they do get a bounce as we generally see from the conventions how long do they last and are they tempered by things like another negative jobs report? how long can they hope to have that little bubble coming off of the convention? >> well, that is another good question. historically, bounces will -- it depends. it as case by case scenario really. and the thing with now heading into the general election, romney now has -- obama remember he spent hundreds of millions of dollars prior to the election to frame mitt

romney negatively. he has the advantage in the final sprint. launching ads. the tons of advertiseing that obama did earlier didn't move the needle very much in his direction. i think the debates will be a key pivotal moment in the campaign. a debate every week during the month of october. >> shannon: and do you think that the vice presidential debate is going to be a factor? a lot of people say the second person on the ticket doesn't matter that much but there seems to be a great deal of interest what we are hearing from viewers andre anecdoteallt they want to see the biden ryan matchup. almost more interested than that than the top of the ticket. >> same thing four years ago with sarah palin versus biden. and john edwards. there is a lot of interest in the vice presidential debate. in the end people aren't voting for number two on the ticket. they are voting on the top of the ticket.

it will be romney versus obama will be the debates that matter most. >> shannon: we will have three of those. when you have numbers that show when it comes to the economy and job approval that more people favor romney than do obama. but yet obama continues to poll ahead of romney in the overall head-to-head race in most of the polling over the last few months. how is it in your experience and following these numbers that people can disapprove of the way that somebody is doing their job but still say i still think that they are the best person and i have the most confidence in them to continue leading the country? >> a great question. this is a strange election. usually all of the metrics sort of they are like puzzle pieces and all sort of fit together. this this election they don't. we have two thirds of people saying that they disagree with the direction the country is moving in it. ajob approval rating for the president under 50 percent. on the economy even lower than that and he is still leading in the polls. it it is jumbled up. the main reason is that people are still cutting the president some slack. they know he inherited a mess

and some of them certainly democrats and some independents are buying the fact they blame it on bush and buying the fact that the president says i did the best job i could and i need more time to work this out and we are moving in the right direction. >> shannon: and could make the debates more important than ever before. tom bevan thank you so much. always good to hear from you. >> thank you. >> shannon: the unemployment rate fell last month but that was largely factored in because 386,000 people left the labor force. they stopped looking. in light of the jobs report analysts say that when the federal reserve meets this week chances are good it will take some kind of action aimed at boosting growth. brenda buttner joins us to explain. hello, brenda. >> hey, shannon. well, friday's weak jobs report could put the fed to work again. when the central bank meets this week, it will likely consider kicking off a third round of monetary stimulus called q e-3 in washington

speak. translation, the bank will print more money to buy what could be hundreds of billions of bonds or mortgage debt. this on top of the $2.3 trillion the fed has already spent trying to get more americans working. how? well, the aim is to lower long-term interest rates and stimulate more businesses and consumers to borrow and spend. jump starting the recovery. yet a new bond buying binge means printing more money as our national debt tops $16 trillion and there is plenty it of disagreement about whether it will work anyway. with unemployment stubbornly above 8% it is not clear past efforts have. although banks mae have more money to lend they haven't been quick to do so. and even if businesses and consumers have more cash they don't seem ready to spend with so much uncertainty about economic policy after the election. plus, this kind of move by the fed could also take the heat off those really in charge of getting the economy going, congress and the white house. in europe, it was only when interest rates hit dangerous

highs that government finally got serious about cleaning up the debt mess. but wall street is cheering the chance. the fed will pull the trigger, markets at multiyear highs in spite of the dismal jobs report we will know if and perhaps when the fed gets on the job be this thursday. shannon, back to you. >> shannon: you will be he all over it, we know that, brenda. thank you very much. >> that's right. all right, thank you. >> shannon: coming up a bomb blast in afghanistan left navy lieutenant brad snyder blind. 12 months later he is bringing home the gold for the usa in the long-time da paralympics. we have his amazing story, right after this break. we believe honor is not exclusive to the military, and commitment is not limited to one's military oath. the same set of values that drive our nation's military are the ones we used to build usaa bank. with our award winning apps that allow you to transfer funds, pay bills or manage your finances anywhere, anytime.

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>> shannon: texas will soon lay claim to the fastest speed limit in the country. 85 miles an hour. drivers will will be able to hit that speed on a 41-mile stretch of texas i-30 that will open in november.

it will stretch from austin to san antonio. the department of transportation is expected to bring in $100 million of new revenue from the toll road. that sounds like fun. >> if queens new york yesterday at least one tornado touched down leaving a mess in its wake. part of a storm that covered the northeast yesterday. our chief meteorologist rick reichmuth is at the fox weather center with details. hi, rick. >> i am moving to texas, shannon with that speed limit. >> shannon: exactly. >> that is amazing. also good news, we had this big line of storms that moved through yesterday. look at the last 24 hour. couple of tornadoes with it but nothing that caused any real significant damage and that is the good news across parts of the northeast. that front changed the weather dramatically across the country. a few showers around the tampa area and orlando. a few showers across the arizona area today and seattle

has been dry for 49 days in a row. by tonight a few showers moving on in. in general behind the front it feels great for almost everybody. people on twitter and facebook saying it feels like fall down in places like atlanta and down towards the south. 79 is all in new orleans. and this they aren't just good temperatures, it is not humid either. dry nice first taste of fall for people. a lot of people getting a pumpkin spice latte right about now, shannon. >> shannon: it was a beautiful morning. only a pumpkin spice latte could have made it better. but that it for tomorrow. >> you got it. >> shannon: thank you. an ied explosion in afghanistan left navy lieutenant brad snyder blind but one year later he has come full circle in his recovery and brought home the gold for the usa in the paralympics. anna has his story. >> exactly one year ago, navy lieutenant brad snyder's last

afghanistan tour ended suddenly when an i.e.d. blasted sha rap nell in his face.p in the blind athletes category a guide reaches out with a soft pole to give the swimmers a tap as they near the wall for a turn. >> there is a lot of uncertainty going into the morning, a lot of nerves coming out in front of a crowd this size is daunting. i underestimated that i think a little bit. we were able to once i hit the water felt really comfortable and really loose. >> lieutenant snyder's job was to diffuse bombs for a navy seal team. following the accident he remained conscious as he waited for are a medic to reach him. he received about 30 stitches and we began recovering at walter reed medical center. he says the disability brings new meaning to the words he

repeated so oft innocent navy, honor, courage, commitment. >> commitment to getting better. commitment to your family. commitment to your ship mates and to that kind of like i said in the hospital that support that they gave to me i needed to reciprocate that commitment. i felt a kinship and wanted to show that i appreciated their support and commitment and i wanted to get better. >> what an inspiration. lieutenant snyder says one of the hardest parts of his disaability was not just dealing with the physical problems associated with being blind but the mental jolt of being sidelined after being part of an active' sault team. his team oriented competitive nature is now being fulfilled through his participation in the paralympics. >> we have so many men and women just like that back from the battlefield and recovering. thanks for bringing us h his story. >> of course. >> shannon: they are trying to take a little of the sin out of

sen city. how officials in las vegas are looking to clean it up. one of our most clicked story. peter has the scoop, next.

it is amazing how they

don't like to be fact checked, right? >> we are not going to be bound by the fact checkers. >> shannon: vice president biden makes the romney campaign an offer it can't refuse. one of the most popular stories on fox news .com. peter doocy is live in the newsroom with more. >> reporter: and shannon, vice president biden dared the romney campaign to fact check his speech from the dnc and not willing to shy away from the challenge they did and put out a new statement that includes fact checks relating to tax and medicare proposals as well as claims governor romney outsourced jobs and the results of the romney campaign fact checking on fox news .com. another most clicked story a violent storm that ripped through the northeastern u.s. yesterday forced delays of the u.s. open tennis tournament. the men's semi final rescheduled for today. making it the fifth consecutive year that tournament has been plagued by weather delays. the women play their final match today. finally h, new efforts to make

sin city squeak request clean may violate the first amendment. promotional materials handed out on the streets to tourities who often throw them in the trash. a new ordinance says the marketer have to clean up the litter. civil rights groups say hand billers aren't at fault. it is the people who take the cards and then trash them. these stories and more on fox news .com. wacback to you. >> shannon: it is always the tourists' fault. right now the average price of gas stands at $3.82. labor day travel was up 3%. the bad news is the gas prices probably will not be falling any time soon but the good news is you can still score great deals on travel. chris joins us with his fall forecast. chris, great to see you. thanks for joining us today. >> sure thing. >> shannon: let's start with the fact that labor day didn't seem to be a time for folks to stay home. it was your impression that

summer travel was pretty consistent despite the gas rices. >> we had a really, really good summer travel season. and gas prices were kind of all over the map. we started out the summer with gas at $3.50 a gallon and took a dive down in mid july to 3 $3.30 a gallon and we are north of $3.80 now. and people haven't cut back very much. labor day travel was up about 10% and best western which is one of the largest hotel chains in the country, about 2,000 hotels their advanced bookings for fall up 10% over this time last year. indicators that the high price of gas is not having that much of impact so far. >> shannon: any indication where the prices may go for the fall as summer travel winds down? >> i think the gas prices will probably level out because demand starts to level out. air fares i think are going to continue to rise and i think if you are thinking about heading home for the holidays, thanksgiving or christmas you need to go ahead and start

looking at those air fares right now and trying to get a good deal. airlines have cut way back on capacity. down about 11% since 2005. but there is still a lot of people throughout that want to travel. demand is still up. so when you get into the holiday travel season when there is is a lot of people that want to travel but fewer seats that means one thing, much, much higher prices. i think that transcontinental air fares for thanksgiving and christmas in year, probably most people paying $500 to $700 round trip. a good deal on the routes would normally be about $300. >> shannon: tough when you have a family traveling. let's talk about hotels for the fall? >> well, hotels have not -- the price of hotels has not really gone up that much. we are expecting it to go up a little less than 5%. nobody likes to pay more but that is not an increase that is keeping people at home. what is really important about the fall travel season is that the weather is still great but there is a lot fewer people out there. so this declean in demand means

you can fend some really good deals at hotels, last minute deals. call the hotel directly and ask them if you can find a very you know what the best price is instead of relying on websites only. also, if you are looking for a great deal you need to travel during what is known as the shoulder season or what i call the dead weeks. these are the slowest times of the year. so if you have the flexibility to travel in early november, maybe the first one or two weeks before thanksgiving starts. early december, actually this year late november to early december because thanksgiving is early this year on the 22nd. but so late november, early december and early january. you can find some very, very good deals if you have the flexibility to travel during these very slow times. >> shannon: chris, we always appreciate your tips. thank you so much. >> thanks for are having me. >> shannon: well, americans of course, we want to be the best at everything that we do. why not strive for the gold in bar tending? well, tore a week our best bar tenders have been serving up

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>> shannon: team usa takes the gold ben. a trio of america's finest bar tenders or as some like to be called, mixologists outmixed six other teams to wen the cocktail world cup in

new zealand. ability to work as a team and, of course, amazing drinks. >> it is very heart warming to see that he has a friend that he can share all his secrets with. >> shannon: six-year-old austin lugger and his dog have something in common. they are both deaf. his mom says that his dog has helped him become more comfortable around others. the family has been teaching the dog sign language and she has picked up a few signs. that is adorable. the first general debate of the general election is just weeks away. will you watch. laura says she will watch the debates especially ryan biden but choice made on the economy. t.j. says he is not bothering to watch. max said they will help m decide who is the best to l